Program Alumni

Our graduates occupy tenure-track positions in various institutions, ranging from liberal arts colleges to Research-1 and respected foreign universities. In addition to the universities highlighted below, some of our Ph.D.s are in positions at High Point University (Renzo Honores), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Germán Palacios), Jacksonville University (Jesse Hingson), and the University of West Georgia (Colleen Vasconsellos). Here are some recent examples of successful scholars who graduated from our Atlantic History Ph.D. program.

Paula de la Cruz Fernández (Ph.D. 2013) received a "Work and Human Life Cycle in Global History" Postdoctoral Fellowship from the International Research Center at Humboldt University in Berlin to turn her dissertation ("Atlantic Threads: Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1860–1940") into a monograph.

Amanda Snyder (Ph.D. 2013) held an Ahmason-Getty Fellowship at the Clark Library of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she started turning her dissertation ("Pirates, Exiles, and Empire: English Seamen, Atlantic Expansion, and Jamaica Settlement, 1569–1659") into a monograph.

Julio Capó (Ph.D. 2011) is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with interests in Latina/o studies and inter-American relations with a focus on sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and immigration. His dissertation from FIU won the Urban History Association Best Dissertation Prize in 2012. In addition, his 2010 article, “Queering Mariel,” Journal of American Ethnic History, received two prizes, including the Carlton C. Qualey Memorial Article Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society. In 2011, he worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Program and American Studies Program at Yale University. He has received other awards and grants, including the Heller-Diane Bernard Fellowship Award from the City University of New York’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, best essay from the Cuban Research Institute, and FIU’s First Annual University Graduate School Provost Award for Outstanding Paper or Manuscript.

"FIU's graduate program was a perfect fit for me and molded my training to match the needs and gaps in the field. My professors honed and developed all the professional skills I needed along the way, from presenting a conference paper to applying for an academic job. Of course, the benefits of studying history in a culturally diverse city like Miami with countless—and often untapped—resources cannot be overstated."

Erika Edwards (Ph.D. 2011) is Assistant Professor of Latin American History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a student at FIU, Dr. Edwards received Fulbright and Ford Dissertation Awards in support of her studies. Her recent publications include "Mestizaje, Cordoba's Patria Chica: Beyond the Myth of Black Disappearance in Argentina" in the special issue "There are No Blacks in Argentine: Policing the Racial Border" of the African and Black Diaspora International Journal.

"Having joined the FIU community from out of state, the best thing about FIU's Department of History was the instant feeling of belonging. Faculty and staff made me feel welcome from day one, and many professors emphasize the building of personal and professional relations that outlast a student's time in the program. The graduate students, rather than merely competing with each other, also have a strong sense of community and celebrate each others' successes."

Rodney Walton (Ph.D. 2009) published Big Guns, Brave Men in 2013. His first monograph is based on his dissertation on the history of the forward artillery observers in the Pacific theater of World War II. Navigate here for a feature article on FIU News: http:/news.fiu.edu2013/06/historian-publishes-dissertation-tribute-to-late-father/63407